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Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight into Thursday, the military said, striking several terrorist targets in order to prepare the battlefield ahead of a widely expected ground invasion after more than two weeks of devastating air raids.

The raid came after the UN warned it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory, which has also been under a complete siege since Hamas bloody rampage across southern Israel ignited the war earlier this month.

The rising death tolls in Gaza are unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Even greater loss of life could come if Israel launches an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Wednesday that more than 750 people were killed over the past 24 hours, higher than the 704 killed the previous day.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the death toll, and the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

By comparison, 2,251 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the entire six-week-long war in 2014, according to UN figures.

In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza.

IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts.

The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/oMdSDR84rU— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023

On Wednesday, the wife, son, daughter and grandson of Wael Dahdouh, a veteran Al-Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, were killed in an Israeli strike.

The Qatar-based network showed footage of his grief upon entering a hospital and seeing his dead son. Dahdouh and other mourners attended the funerals on Thursday wearing the blue flak jackets used by reporters in the Palestinian territories.

The Israeli military says it only strikes terrorist targets and accuses Hamas of operating among civilians in densely-populated Gaza. Hamas terrorists have fired rocket barrages into Israel since the war began. 7 Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight into Thursday, the military said, striking several terrorist targets in order to prepare the battlefield. IDF/X 7 The raid came after the UN warned it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip.IDF/X

During the overnight raid, soldiers killed fighters and destroyed terrorists infrastructure and anti-tank missile launching positions, the military said.

It said no Israeli were wounded.

There was no immediate confirmation of any Palestinian casualties.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said the limited incursion was part of our preparations for the next stages of the war.

Israel also said it had also carried out some 250 airstrikes across Gaza in the last 24 hours, targeting tunnel shafts, rocket launchers and other terrorist infrastructure. 7 A portion of a building is destroyed during Israel’s raid overnight on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.IDF/X

An airstrike on the southern town of Khan Younis hit a residential building where 75 people were staying, according to family members, including 25 who had fled other parts of Gaza.

Ambulances streamed into the nearby Nasser Hospital, but there was no official word on casualties.

The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in the war.

That figure includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week.

The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government.

Hamas also holds at least 224 hostages in Gaza. 7 Smoke billows in the air over the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 26, after a “column of tanks and infantry” launched an overnight raid into Hamas-controlled Gaza.AFP via Getty Images

The warning by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, over depleting fuel supplies raised alarm that the humanitarian crisis could quickly worsen.

Gazas population has also been running out of food, water and medicine.

About 1.4 million of Gazas 2.3 million residents have fled their homes, with nearly half of them crowded into UN shelters.

Hundreds of thousands remain in northern Gaza, despite Israel ordering them to evacuate to the south, saying those who remain might be considered accomplices of Hamas. 7 People search for survivors and the bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza strip on Oct. 26, 2023. AFP via Getty Images

In recent days, Israel let more than 60 trucks with aid enter from Egypt, which aid workers say is insufficient and only a tiny fraction of what was being brought in before the war.

Israel is still barring deliveries of fuel needed to power generators saying it believes Hamas will take it.

An official with the International Committee of the Red Cross said it hopes to bring in eight trucks filled with vital medical supplies.

This is a small amount of what is required, a drop in the ocean, said William Schomburg, head of the sub-delegation in Gaza. We are trying to establish a pipeline.

UNRWA has been sharing its own fuel supplies so that trucks can distribute aid, bakeries can feed people in shelters, water can be desalinated, and hospitals can keep incubators, life support machines and other vital equipment working. 7 Smoke rises from the an Israeli attack in Khan Yunis on Thursday, Oct. 26.AFP via Getty Images

If it continues doing all of that, fuel will run out by Thursday, so the agency is deciding how to ration its supply, UNRWA spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai told The Associated Press.

Do we give for the incubators or the bakeries? she said. It is an excruciating decision.

More than half of Gazas primary health care facilities and roughly a third of its hospitals have stopped functioning, the World Health Organization said.

At Gaza Citys al-Shifa Hospital, the lack of medicine and clean water have led to alarming infection rates, the group Doctors Without Borders said.

Amputations are often required to prevent infection from spreading in the wounded, it said. see also Israel war 2023 Israel agrees to delay Gaza offensive to allow US missile defense placement

One surgeon with the group described amputating half the foot of a 9-year-old boy with only slight sedation on a hallway floor as his mother and sister watched.

The conflict has also threatened to spread across the region.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it struck military sites in Syria in response to rocket launches from the country.

Syrian state media said eight soldiers were killed and seven wounded.

Strikes in Syria also hit the airports of Aleppo and Damascus, in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to terrorist groups, including Lebanons Hezbollah.

Israel has been exchanging near daily fire with Iranian-backed Hezbollah across the Lebanese border.

Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks early Thursday caused fires in open land in the southern Lebanon border town of Aita al Shaab, where clashes have intensified, Lebanons state-run news agency said.

It reported strikes late Wednesday on towns in the Tyre district, saying a mattress factory was hit. 7 A tank fires a round after crossing the border into the Gaza Strip during an overnight raid by Israeli forces.IDF/X

Hamas surprise rampage on Oct. 7 in southern Israel stunned the country with its brutality, its unprecedented toll and the failure of intelligence agencies to know it was coming.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a peech Wednesday night that he will be held accountable, but only after Hamas was defeated.

We will get to the bottom of what happened, he said. This debacle will be investigated. Everyone will have to give answers, including me.

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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